Rutgers Faculty

Erin Vogel

Principal Investigator/Project Director

Dr. Erin Vogel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of
Anthropology and a member of the Graduate Faculty in the Department
of Ecology and Evolution at Rutgers University. Erin received her
Ph.D. in 2004 in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Stony Brook
University. She has been studying primate behavior and ecology since
1996 and has been studying orangutan behavior and ecology in
Indonesia since 2004. Since 1998, she has published over 26 articles
in peer-reviewed journals, 5 books chapters in edited volumes, and
has received 17 grants from federal and non-federal funding sources.
Since 2004, she has been collaborating with UNAS faculty Drs.
Utami-Atmoko and Mitra-Setia on several research projects and they
have received joint funding from both U.S. federal granting agencies
and NGOs. Dr. Vogel's current research involves questions that
explore both the proximate and ultimate mechanisms of diet selection
and energy acquisition in wild orangutans. She established a
long-term research project in 2005 at the Tuanan Research Station in
Central Kalimantan focusing on orangutan dietary ecology and
cognitive foraging decisions. This project combines field
observations with laboratory techniques to examine the relationships
between nutrition, gut physiology, food availability, and diet
selection. Since 2004, Erin has mentored eleven Indonesian students
and ten foreign students at Tuanan. As PI, Dr. Vogel has ultimate
responsibility for the administrative, fiscal, and scientific
conduct of the research project. She is responsible for
communication among all key personnel and project participants,
primary communication about the project's impacts, the performance
of the award, the distribution of funds from Rutgers University to
Indonesian collaborators and students, all external representation
and coordination with USAID, and offering technical guidance and
input to the institutional partners.
Click here to go to Dr. Vogel's page.

Robert Scott

Co-Principal Investigator

Dr. Robert Scott is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and a
member of the Graduate Faculty of Ecology and Evolution at Rutgers
University. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from The
University of Texas at Austin in 2004. His research program and
duties focus on investigations of diet in relation to ecology in
human and primate evolution. Rob has published over 20 articles in
peer-reviewed journals and three book chapters in edited volumes. He
has been very successful in obtaining funding and has received 15
grants since 2000. Dr. Scott has conducted paleoecological fieldwork
in Indonesia, China, Turkey, Hungary, and the United States
(Montana). He is the co-developer of a new repeatable method for
quantifying primate and hominin dental microwear in three dimensions
and has reviewed primate diets in this context. This method has
provided new insights into the diet of South African early hominins
suggesting the importance of fallback food exploitation and was
published in the journal Nature. At Rutgers, Dr. Scott has been
recognized for outstanding contributions to undergraduate education
and teaches the Signature course "Extinction", a critical part of
the new School of Arts and Sciences core curriculum. This course
focuses on climate change, extinction processes, and conservation.
His expertise in these areas in addition to quantitative analyses
(Dr. Scott is also responsible for teaching quantitative methods to
majors) and ecosystem modeling will greatly contribute to the
planned short course in Applied Ecology and Ecosystem Management.
Click here to go to Dr. Scott's page.

Wendy Erb

Postdoctoral Fellow/Project Manager

Dr. Wendy Erb is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of
Anthropology at Rutgers University. She has been studying primate
behavior and ecology since 2003 and has been conducting research in
Indonesia since 2005. Wendy joined the program as Project Manager in
January 2013, and began her orangutan research at the Tuanan
Research Station in May 2013. Dr. Erb's research focuses broadly on
the social and ecological behavior of wild primates, and she is
primarily interested in the strategies and signals of reproductive
competition. Wendy incorporates behavioral, ecological, and acoustic
methods in her research. Dr. Erb is also very interested in
biological conservation, and understanding the ways that human
activities influence the behavior and ecology of wild primates. As
Project Manager, she is responsible for coordinating research,
training, and education activities in the field. In particular, she
is heavily involved in training UNAS and Rutgers students in both
laboratory and field techniques, while coordinating the field
courses and project-related activities.
Click here to go to Dr. Erb's page.

UNAS Faculty

Sugardjito Soekohardjo

Lead Indonesian Faculty

Dr. Sugardjito is a Research Supervisor in large mammal ecology and
the Director of the Office for International Cooperation at
Universitas Nasional Jakarta (UNAS). Before holding this position,
he was a Senior Research Scientist at the Indonesian Institute for
Sciences (LIPI). Dr. Sugardjito received his Ph.D. n Behavioral
Ecology from the University of Utrecht iin 1986. He has been
studying primate behavior throughout Indonesia since 1974 on a wide
range of primate and other mammalian species. He has worked for
several conservation NGOs and is considered a leading expert in the
field of primate conservation and behavior in Indonesia. He has
served as a member of the editorial board for the International
Journal of Primatology and has published over 20 articles in
peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Sugardjito is a lead developer of the
"Applied Ecology and Ecosystem Management" module of the field
course. His connections made during his time working with several
NGOs are critical for the success of this course as he can invite
several guest lecturers from these groups to expand the focus of the
course.

Sri Suci Utami Atmoko

Key Personnel

Dr. Utami Atmoko is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Biology at
Universitas Nasional Jakarta (UNAS). She received her Ph.D. in 2000
in Socio-ecology from University of Utrecht. Dr. Utami Atmoko is
primatologist who has spent more than 20 years conducting research
on orangutan behavior and conservation. Her research is mainly
conducted in Ketambe, Leuser National Park in Aceh, Sumatra, and she
is also a co-director of the Tuanan Research Station. Her current
research focuses on the behavior, ecology, physiology and genetics
of orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra. She has published over 35 peer
reviewed articles and is considered a leading expert on orangutan
behavior and conservation. In addition to her scientific research,
Dr. Utami Atmoko has worked as a consultant and/or special advisor
for a number of NGOs and government organizations including WWF,
USAID, UNESCO, TNC, and BOSF. She supports her conservation efforts
by integrating conservation principles with systematically collected
field data, monitoring, and awareness training for local NGOs, local
communities, local governments and university students, and
lecturing in several conservation programs and universities both in
Indonesia and abroad. Dr. Utami Atmoko has expertise in fieldwork,
film advising (BBC), monitoring and awareness training, adult and
non-formal education, and also office management.

Tatang Mitra-Setia

Key Personnel

Drs. Tatang Mitra-Setia is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Biology at
Universitas Nasional Jakarta (UNAS). \He completed his Master's
degree in 1995 in Biology from Utrecht University, The Netherlands
and will finish his Ph.D. in Ecology in 2014 from the University of
Indonesia. He has been studying orangutans for over 20 years in both
Sumatra and Borneo. In addition to teaching and advising students at
UNAS, he has worked as a contract employee for several NGOs,
advising on orangutan conservation issues. Mitra-Setia is a
co-manager of the Tuanan Research Station and has been critical in
the construction of the facility, mentoring of students, and
facilitating foreign research at this station. He has been the
liaison to RISTEK for obtaining all permission letters, permits, and
visas for all foreign students and researchers since 2003. His
research focuses on male social relationships in wild orangutans.

Achi Zulfa

Assistant Project Manager

Achi has been working at Tuanan since 2004, when she conducted
research about orangutan nutrition and feeding behavior for her
undergraduate thesis at UNAS. After finishing her degree, she
followed up this research with a complementary study at the Ketambe
Research Station in Aceh from 2006 until 2008. This research was
conducted in collaboration with Drs. Erin R. Vogel and Serge Wich
for her master's degree at UNAS. Achi returned to Tuanan in 2011 to
run the Environmental Education Program initiated by Dr. Erin R.
Vogel in the local community. She now works as the Assistant Project
Manager for this program, and is primarily responsible for
coordinating the visas, research permits, and sample export permits
needed to continue our research activities.

Inez Saptenno

Project Coordinator

Inez Saptenno is the Head of the Division of International
Cooperation at Universitas Nasional (UNAS), where she manages and
develops international cooperation between UNAS and its counterpart
universities. Her responsibilities as Project Coordinator include:
1) setting up funding accounts and administrating USAID-related
funds, 2) coordinating and overseeing the development of the UNAS
Biological Sciences webpage, 3) arranging for journal subscriptions
funded through USAID, 4) working together with Dr. Vogel and Dr.
Scott to ensure proper management of funds sent to UNAS, and 5)
submitting a quarterly financial report to the Project Director.

Rutgers Students

Shauhin Alavi

Doctoral Student

Shauhin Alavi is a graduate student in Dr. Vogel's lab at Rutgers
University. For his PhD, Shauhin is studying cognitive foraging and
the role of wild orangutans in nutrient cycling within the peat
swamp ecosystem at the Tuanan Research Station. He conducted a pilot
study at Tuanan from June through July 2013, during which time he
established experimental plots, collected fecal samples from wild
orangutans, as well as conducted dozens of seedling growth
experiments. Shauhin plans to return to Indonesia in May 2014 to
begin collecting data for his dissertation.

Elizabeth Ballare

Doctoral Student

Elizabeth Ballare is a graduate student in Dr. Vogel's lab at
Rutgers University. For her PhD, Liz is working on projects that
involve the health of rehabilitated and released orangutans at BOSF
Nyaru Menteng and BOSF Batikap in Central Kalimantan, Borneo. These
projects focus on their ability to obtain adequate dietary protein,
the ways in which they recycle this protein in their bodies during
periods of fruit scarcity, and their physiological responses to
stress. In addition, Liz is investigating the differences in
immuno-responsiveness by measuring urinary cytokines and is also
identifying gastro-intestinal parasites in both the rehabilitated
and released populations. Using these biomarkers Liz will conduct a
comparative study between the released orangutan population and the
wild population at Tuanan studied by Dr. Erin Vogel. Liz conducted a
pilot study in July and August, 2014, during which time she
collected hundreds of urine samples from rehabilitated and released
orangutans at Nyaru Mentent and Batikap. She is currently analyzing
these samples at the Laboratory for Primate Dietary Ecology and
Physiology at Rutgers University, and plans to return to Indonesia
in May 2014 to continue this research.

Timothy Bransford

Doctoral Student

Timothy Bransford is a graduate student in Dr. Vogel's lab at
Rutgers University. For his PhD, Tim is studying the energetics of
motherhood in wild orangutans at the Tuanan Research Station. He
conducted a pilot study from June until August, 2013, during which
time he collected hundreds of urine samples from wild orangutans at
Tuanan, as well as dozens of orangutan food samples for nutritional
analysis. Tim plans to return to Indonesia in May 2014 to begin
collecting data for his dissertation.

Alysse Moldawer

Doctoral Student

Alysse is a first-year PhD student in Dr. Vogel's lab at Rutgers
University. Prior to coming to Rutgers, she worked as a research
assistant for Dr. Vogel at the Tuanan Research Station, collecting
orangutan urine as well as dietary and behavioral data; and also
volunteered for an environmental education program for children from
the neighboring community. Alysse is interested in orangutan
physiology and endocrinological responses to social behavior and
nutrient availability; as well as understanding people's perceptions
of and relationships with orangutans, the environment, and research.

Didik Prasetyo

Doctoral Student

Didik Prasetyo is a first-year graduate student in Dr. Vogel's lab
at Rutgers University. For his dissertation, he is interested in
comparing the nest-building behavior of wild and ex-rehabilitated
orangutans at the Tuanan research station and the BOSF Batikap
orangutan release sites in Central Kalimantan, Borneo. Didik plans
to conduct his pilot research in May 2014.

UNAS Students

Sofiah Rohmat

Master's Student

Sofiah Rohmat will begin her master's research in the Katunjung
Village in the Mawas Conservation Area in December, 2013. Her
research will focus primarily on interviews of local people to
understand their relationships with and uses for the native plants
in the area.

Fajar Saputra

Master's Student

Fajar Saputra began his research for his master's degree in
August, 2013. He is monitoring fruiting trees throughout the Tuanan
study area, as well as conducting full-day follows of orangutans to
collect feeding data. During his graduate studies, Fajar is also one
of the operational managers at Camp Tuanan, and he works closely
with local stakeholders in developing sustainable management
strategies for the Mawas Conservation Area.

Iman Sapari

Master's Student

Iman Sapari will begin research for his master's degree in the far
western region of Central Kalimantan in December, 2013. He will
survey several areas in Belantikan region to monitor populations of
endangered wild bulls and orangutans. Iman is interested in
understanding the effects of logging on these native fauna.

Agnes Yuliana

Master's Student

Agnes Yuliana plans to begin her master's degree research at
Tuanan in 2014. Although most of her research will take place in the
laboratory at UNAS, she will spend a short time at Tuanan collecting
biological samples.

Tenno Hendras

Undergraduate Student

Project title: Potential resource from Mawas Area as
conservation effort

Tenno Hendras conducted interviews with local people and
biological surveys from June until September, 2013. His research
goal was to identify the natural and human resources as well as
existing conflicts for conservation in 6 villages within the Mawas
Conservation Area. He is currently writing his thesis and hopes to
complete his S1 degree this semester.

Molly Injani

Undergraduate Student

Project Title: Long calling and energetics in adult male Bornean
orangutans Molly Injani will begin her research at the Tuanan
Research Station in February 2014. She will collect behavioral,
nutritional, and ecological data on wild orangutans and their foods
in order to understand the relationship between food availability,
energy intake, and long calling rates in adult male orangutans.

Angga Prasetya

Undergraduate Student

Angga Prasetya conducted biological surveys from June until
September, 2013 to document the biodiversity of reptiles and
amphibians within the Mawas Conservation Area. He is currently
writing his thesis and hopes to complete his S1 degree this
semester.